It's been awhile since I have shared any photos here - not since my 6 y/o daughter finished soccer this spring. My goal is to get out and shoot more and be a more regular poster here on the Sports Corner. I also recently sold my 70-200 f/4L lens and replaced it with the 200 f/2.8L II lens, so I was looking for a chance to get out and test it. I am absolutely in love with this lens. It nailed focus on just about everything. All shots were taken with the Canon 1D with the 200 f/2.8L.

The game ended in a 0-0 tie. I was hoping to cull down to just 8 shots to post, but I only managed to get down to 12. Always open to C&C and thanks for taking a look.

Nice work, Rick. Looks like you were very patient if you were shooting at 200 mm. I would have made some different crop decisions, but I like your colors and sharpness. 7, 10 and 12 don't work for me; like Matt, I like 1 and 4 best.

Thanks Matt & Russ. I agree about 10 & 12. Those 2 shots were the ones I was closest to eliminating from the set. The things I liked about 10 were that she was so close, and while obviously there is no ball, her eyes imply the ball headed her way. The type of shot I compared it to in my own mind was a baseball batter shot from behind on the follow through with no ball but the eyes tracking the flight of the ball. #12 probably should have been left out.

Thanks Ben. You are right about Hope's soccer field - it is a great place to shoot. This was the first game I attended there since they put the new stadium in and the first half I spent shooting from behind the rail so I was back a little from the sidelines and couldn't get real low. After the first half, someone from Public Relations who was also there photographing invited me to come inside the rail to photograph as long as I stayed off the field. That's why the later pictures from this set are from a lower angle.

Terrific low angle seems really more evident on #5 through #8, but nice stuff. I agree with Russ, there's a couple I think that come off a little weaker (9, 10 and 12... 10 only because no ball or sense of the play) but the rest are winners. Well done.